Reed Kuhn's MMA Articles

1. Size Matters Heavyweights are more than twice as likely as the smaller divisions to score a knockdown per landed head strike. Bucking the trend is John Dodson, who literally punches above his weight by having a higher knockdown rate (6.25%) than the heavyweight average (6.11%). 2. Speed Saves Larger fighters have better striking accuracy [...]

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. A small rubber bracelet with a hologram sticker can enhance your performance in the gym, in life, and in competition. It boosts power and agility, making it a critical training asset for every athlete. Or so say the marketers of Power Balance Performance Technology®, [...]

// Data provided by Reed Kuhn at fightnomics.com / @fightnomics Of all the exhilarating things that can happen inside an MMA cage, a fighter dropping an opponent to the floor with a single strike is perhaps the most iconic. The fundamental physics and biology of a strong and well-placed strike to the head will trump [...]

General George S. Patton famously warned that “fatigue makes cowards of us all.” It’s a powerful insight, and one that is absolutely relevant in sports. It’s pretty hard to impose your will on someone else when you’re exhausted, or worse, prevent them from imposing their will on you. Let’s take a closer look at conditioning [...]

Sports fans are constantly bombarded with data and information, even in a simple and straightforward sport like MMA. As any sport grows, the metrics that measure it and the statistics that report it evolve. However, there’s one set of numbers that are omnipresent from the start of almost any sport: the betting odds. In MMA, [...]

The UFC’s middleweight division is full of talented strikers, but it’s no surprise that Anderson “The Spider” Silva stands alone. Taking a point-in-time assessment of a division’s roster is a quick way to compare fighters without having to wait for a matchup that may take years to materialize, if ever. It’s not perfect, but if [...]

The Little Secret of the WEC Merger In December 2010, Anthony Pettis leapt out of the WEC cage and landed a kick to Benson Henderson’s face. The spectacular “Showtime Kick” highlighted the waning moments of the final fight of the World Extreme Cage fighting organization. The folding of the bantamweight, featherweight, and lightweight fighters into [...]

How the MMA submission staple almost became extinct. On March 3, 2012, Ronda Rousey won the Strikeforce Women’s Lightweight Championship via armbar submission of Miesha Tate. The formula was perfect: pre-fight hype, nonstop action, an epic finish, and a star’s emergence. That same weekend at UFC on FX 2, two more fighters—Daniel Pineda and TJ [...]

Built for Success Every Tale of the Tape contains a hidden message: There is no such thing as a “fair fight.” At the elite levels of most modern sports, coaches, scouts, and statisticians are always searching for the next great champion—the diamond in the rough. There are often specific factors to look for when scouting [...]

The all-heavyweight main card at UFC 146 in Las Vegas on May 26 is the perfect storm for taking a look at some of the best strikers in the division. The heavyweight class is a great place to hone in on striking stats. On average, heavyweights spend 60 percent of the fight on their feet, [...]

As long as you can punch accurately, you still have a chance to win. Some of the names on the accompanying charts may surprise you, but after the numbers were crunched, the fighters below reigned supreme in power and jab accuracy to the head. The numbers are for all UFC fighters from the beginning of [...]

Is wrestling ruining MMA? Long before there was modern MMA, there was wrestling, and despite the rapidly increasing popularity of MMA and jiu-jitsu, the most popular combat sport offered by high schools and colleges is still wrestling. It’s no surprise that a common career path to the cage shoots across numerous wrestling mats along the [...]

The scientific realities of reach. In addition to weight and height, reach is one of the most basic anthropometric characteristics of fighters, deserving placement on any Tale of the Tape. It’s also one of the few aspects a fighter can’t change. Unlike speed, technique, endurance, and even muscle mass, no one improves their reach except [...]

We’re told that “size doesn’t matter,” but we all know it does. In reality, inadequate size severely limits your likelihood of playing NBA hoops or becoming president. Conversely, ex-Sumo wrestlers never become Kentucky Derby jockeys or fighter pilots. Basic anthropometrics like height, reach, and hand dominance follow us everywhere and influence how we perform physical [...]